Generally, laundry machines are apparatuses that are capable of washing and/or drying laundry. Specifically, each laundry machine performs a washing operation, a drying operation, or a washing-and-drying operation. Recently, there has been increasingly used a laundry machine, including a steam generator, which is capable of performing a refreshing operation to remove wrinkles, smells, and static electricity from laundry.
Based on the direction in which laundry is removed, conventional laundry machines may be classified into a front loading type laundry machine and a top loading type laundry machine. Based on the laundry washing method, on the other hand, the conventional laundry machines may be classified into a vertical-shaft type laundry machine, in which a pulsator or an inner tub is rotated, and a horizontal type laundry machine, in which a horizontally disposed drum is rotated. A representative example of the horizontal type laundry machine is a drum type washing machine or a drum type drying machine.
The sizes of the laundry machines have been gradually increased to satisfy consumers demand. Specifically, the exterior sizes of the laundry machines for home use have been gradually increased.
Generally, a large-capacity washing machine is installed in each house. Therefore, when a user sorts laundry by kind and separately washes the sorted laundry articles, it is necessary for the user to operate the washing machine several times. For example, when the user wishes to separately wash a kind of laundry, such as adult clothes, and another kind of laundry, such as underwear or child clothes, the washing machine is operated to wash the adult clothes, and, after the adult clothes are completely washed, the washing machine is operated again to wash the underwear or the child clothes. As a result, the washing time increases, and, in addition, the energy consumption increases.
Also, using the conventional large-sized washing machine to wash a relatively small amount of laundry is not preferred in an energy saving aspect. A washing course of the large-sized washing machine is generally set based on a large amount of laundry, with the result that a large amount of water is consumed. Also, it is necessary to rotate a large-sized drum or inner tub, with the result that power consumption is great. In addition, the washing course is set based on a large amount of laundry, with the result that washing time is relatively long.
On the other hand, the washing course of the large-sized washing machine is generally set to wash general clothes. As a result, the washing course of the large-sized washing machine is not suitable for washing delicate clothes, such as underwear or child clothes.
Also, the large-sized washing machine is not suitable for frequently washing a small amount of laundry. Generally, consumers collect laundry for several days or more, in order to wash all the laundry at once.
However, it is not good to leave the underwear or the child clothes unwashed for a long time. When the laundry is left unwashed for a long time, dirt adheres to the laundry, with the result that it is difficult to wash the laundry clean.
For this reason, there is a necessity for a small-sized washing machine having a capacity much smaller than that of the large-sized washing machine.
However, it is not preferred to install two washing machines side by side in one house, even though the size of the washing machines is small, in consideration of a spatial utilization aspect or a design aspect.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a conventional laundry machine.
As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional laundry machine 1 includes a main body 10 forming the external appearance of the laundry machine and a control panel mounted at the front or the top of the main body 10. Here, the control panel may include a control unit for controlling the operation of the laundry machine. Consequently, it is possible for a user to manipulate the control panel such that the laundry machine performs a washing operation or a drying operation.
Here, the laundry machine may be a washing machine, a drying machine, or a washing-and-drying machine.
On the other hand, the conventional laundry machine may further include a pedestal 20 for supporting the main body 10 on the floor. The main body 10 is mounted on the pedestal 20.
However, the pedestal is utilized only to support the conventional washing machine or the conventional drying machine, but is not utilized for other uses.